Helayne Spivak named as new director of VCU’s Brandcenter

Helayne Spivak, a veteran creative director in the advertising industry, has been named the new director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter, the school’s marketing communications and advertising graduate program.

Spivak, most recently the chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, has held many posts in the advertising industry. They include leading the creative departments at Hal Riney, Young & Rubicam New York, Ammirati Puris Lintas New York and JWT New York.

Spivak will replace Rick Boyko, who retires on July 1 after nine years as the program’s director. Spivak starts at the Brandcenter on Aug. 15.
“Over the past few years, Rick Boyko and the faculty and board of VCU Brandcenter have built this university into the best source for the new creative, strategic and technologically forward-thinking talent today’s industry is desperately looking to hire,” Spivak said in a statement. “But the job is never done. Things continue to change every day and we have to maintain a permanent position on that cutting edge. That’s why I can’t think of a more exciting time to join VCU Brandcenter as its new director: To continue VCU Brandcenter on its forward path igniting creative minds, nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit and preparing our students to excel and lead in a time that will go down in advertising history as the Second Creative Revolution.”

Spivak has served on the board of The One Club and on the film jury of the Cannes Advertising Festival. She also received the prestigious Matrix Award for Women in Communications. She has won all of the advertising industry’s major creative awards, including the One Show, the Art Director’s Club and the Cannes Gold Lion.

The brand center enrolls more than 200 students who study in one of five graduate tracks – art direction, copywriting, communications strategy, creative brand management and creative technology.